Community drone pilot launched in Hampshire to combat rural burglaries and hare coursing

Trained volunteer drone operators are now deployed by Hampshire police to tackle rural crime. The scheme, backed by £84,000 in funding, targets hare coursing, poaching and burglaries.

Volunteer drones deployed to fight rural crime in north Hampshire

Hampshire police have launched a first-of-its-kind community drone pilot to help tackle rural crime across the county, hampshire-pcc.gov.uk reports. Trained civilian volunteers can now be called upon by the police control room to fly drones in support of live incidents in rural areas.

The scheme, which launched during Rural Crime Action Week (8–12 September), currently involves five volunteers who completed a bespoke drone operators' course. Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones said she intends to expand it across the entire force area if the pilot proves successful.

The project is jointly funded by Jones's Rural Initiative Fund, which contributed £25,400, Test Valley Borough Council, which matched that sum, and the North Wessex Downs National Landscapes' Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which provided £34,158.05 — bringing the total to approximately £84,700.

Jones said rural crime was "a blight on businesses and rural communities across our two counties." She described the drones as "a great asset," adding that they offer "a sustainable and proactive approach to tackling rural crime, which is often linked to organised crime."

The commissioner framed the pilot as the third strand of a broader rural policing strategy, alongside the Rural Crime Task Force and the EyesOn digital crime reporting app, both of which she previously launched.

Inspector Stu Ross, who has led the project, said rural criminals cause "continued misery to farmers, landowners, gamekeepers and estate owners across the county." He said the initiative was designed to "bring the community into the heart of rural policing" by making use of volunteers' existing skills.

Ross added that the drone capability would complement equipment already in use by the force, including police drones, mobile automatic number-plate recognition cameras and trail cameras, as well as the specialist expertise held within the Country Watch Rural Crime Task Force. That unit includes officers and staff with qualifications in identifying stolen plant machinery, heritage crime and wildlife crime.

Richard Clarke, chair of the North Wessex Downs National Landscapes Farming in Protected Landscapes Panel, said the project "empowers local communities to support farming by helping tackle rural and wildlife crime and anti-social behaviour, creating a safer environment for farmers, the local community and wildlife."

Test Valley Borough Council portfolio holder for community-led projects, Councillor Stewart MacDonald, said the scheme demonstrated "how local knowledge, technology and community spirit can combine to support our rural areas." He described the volunteers as making "a valuable contribution" in strengthening links between residents and police.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)